Apology by Jackie Mason For Campaign 'Insensitivity'

By TODD S. PURDUM

Published: September 29, 1989

A day after he refused to apologize for racially charged remarks about blacks and Jews that forced his disassociation from the mayoral campaign of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the comedian Jackie Mason issued a formal apology yesterday ''for my insensitivity.''

Mr. Giuliani, the Republican candidate, and a citizens' group that has been monitoring campaign tactics in the New York City elections quarreled over whether he had adequately repudiated Mr. Mason's remarks - before almost agreeing that he had.

The comedian was quoted in an interview published Wednesday in The Village Voice as saying that Jewish support for David N. Dinkins, the Democratic mayoral nominee, was based on Jewish guilt and that blacks had rarely supported Jewish causes. Campaign Strategy Thwarted

Advisers to the Giuliani campaign, while denying that the furor over Mr. Mason's comments would prove a permanent setback, said the incident had stalled the next step in their campaign strategy - more criticism of Mr. Dinkins's record.

On Wednesday Mr. Mason said his remarks had been taken out of context, and then he repeated the gist of some of them at a news conference. As Mr. Giuliani continued to field questions about the matter yesterday, the comedian issued a statement in midafternoon.

''I'd like to say something from the bottom of my heart,'' it began. ''I'm a comedian, not a politician. I make jokes about life and people, and the jokes, whether they're about black people, Jewish people or Gentiles, come from affection, and people know that.

''They know the jokes come from affection, and that's why I think they laugh. But I've learned a lesson from the last few days. What's funny on the stage can be insensitive when it's said off the stage and in the world of politics. And for my insensitivity, I apologize.'' Complaint by Jewish Group

Yesterday morning the monitoring group, the Committee on Decent Unbiased Campaign Tactics, called on Mr. Giuliani to honor the pledge he and the other mayoral candidates made in June to ''reject immediately and unequivocally any support that directly or indirectly attempts to exploit'' racial or religious differences.

The co-chairman of the group, R. Peter Straus, said Mr. Giuliani's comments Wednesday had not honored the pledge. At the time, Mr. Giuliani said Mr. Mason's remarks were offensive and did not represent his views, but he declined to condemn the comedian. Mr. Straus said the committee had spoken out after receiving a complaint from the New York Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

But at a campaign stop yesterday, Mr. Giuliani repeated that Mr. Mason had left the campaign and that he had canceled, ''at considerable sacrifice,'' a fund-raising event with the comedian that had been planned for last night.

''I'm not going to personally attack someone,'' he said.

Later Mr. Giuliani issued another statement in response to the committee, saying he had ''already disavowed'' Mr. Mason's remarks. That prompted Mr. Straus to say that ''after our findings today, he seems to be moving toward honoring his pledge, and we're gratified by that.'' A Setback Discounted

One of Mr. Giuliani's principal advisers, Raymond B. Harding, leader of the Liberal Party, whose nomination the candidate also has, said the Mason incident would not be a big setback.

''Jackie Mason is essentially a Borscht Belt comic,'' he said. ''Everybody knows what his routine and act is. So when these remarks were published, within hours thereafter he's no longer a part of the campaign. So other than buying up every issue of The Village Voice, the campaign acted expeditiously, and the candidate was decisive.''

But several other supporters said it was important for Mr. Giuliani, who has had particular trouble raising money, to get television commercials stressing his message on the air as soon as possible. The campaign is understood to have prepared at least one commercial criticizing Mr. Dinkins that might be considered unwise to run in the aftermath of Mr. Mason's remarks.

''There's a view around that this campaign's over,'' the adviser added. ''I don't buy that. This campaign hasn't begun. In six weeks, anything can happen, and I mean anything.'' Democrats Attack Giuliani

Yesterday a group of Democratic women who are elected officials gathered on the steps of City Hall to denounce Mr. Giuliani because, they said, he had called abortion a ''silly and irrelevant'' campaign issue. The officials included District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman of Brooklyn, who is the Democratic nominee for city comptroller, and Borough President Claire Shulman of Queens.

Addressing a group of women Wednesday night, Mr. Giuliani said his comment of two weeks ago had been taken out of context. He asserted:

''What I said was that on the issue of abortion, David Dinkins and I are in total agreement, so to try to create a disageement between us is silly and irrelevant. The issue is not silly and irrelevant. It is highly important.''

Jackie Mason apologized for remarks about blacks and Jews that forced his disassociation from the campaign of Rudolph W. Giuliani. The candidate talked to demonstrators from Yeshiva University who were protesting outside the Palestine Liberation Organization mission to the United Nations. (NYT/Fred R. Conrad)